Nationally, venture capitalists invested $5.9 billion in 863 companies in the quarter, down about 12 percent from the same quarter last year.

A key reason for the national decline was that venture capital funds have struggled to raise money in the wake of weak investor appetite for initial public stock offerings.

But investors are hopeful that an IPO window will open soon, thanks to a strong stock market and some solid IPO performances. SeaWorld Entertainment, for example, went public late Thursday at $27 a share. The stock ended Friday up 24 percent at $33.52 on its first day of trading.

Besides lower venture-capital funding levels, declines in biotech and clean technology funding pushed down first-quarter numbers, said John Taylor, head of research at the National Venture Capital Association.

“We expect these overall trends to continue until exits and subsequent fundraising activities pick up, and dollars start to flow back into more venture funds,” he said in a statement.